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Doctor Who: The Zygon Invasion

A little late this time around, but the NaNoWriMo kick-off and generally getting ready for Halloween prevented me from watching Doctor Who live. However, I finally had time to watch The Zygon Invasion and am now ready to talk about it. Spoilers ahead!!!

What was it about?

We are back on the Day of the Doctor. Osgood and her Zygon counterpart explain how the peace treaty works, Zygons living peacefully among humans, in human form. But there is a splinter group of rebels that no longer wants to hide their true self. They kidnap the Osgood who is still alive and blackmail/threaten UNIT. The Doctor is of course already on the way to help, but little does he know how far the invasion has already progressed and that this time around he can’t count on his beloved companion, Clara.

TO BE CONTINUED …

My thoughts?

I loved this week’s episode, mostly because it felt very current. While the hints aren’t connected to any real life situation per se, there are parallels to the current refugee crisis, the paranoia and fear coming with it and also some references to terror units and drone strikes. I like how Doctor Who can tackle those topics and make them relevant without overdoing it, making you think without actually connecting it to real life events. And I get the Zygon’s point. They want to be themselves. Doesn’t everyone? Just that resorting to emotional blackmail and terrorism isn’t the way to get anywhere.

Another thing I loved, was the fact that Osgood is back. She clearly mourned the loss of her “sister” and I like how they dealt with the story and (after 2 years) finally filled some plot holes. Also, she has a new awesome fashion statement. Her character just feels so genuine, so I’m interested to see what part she will play during the Zygon Inversion. I have to say though that I am not a huge fan of Kate’s part in the story. Besides Doctor Who showing off that they can shoot all over the globe, we don’t learn anything new about the Zygon threat. It’s just supposed to build up tension I guess, but it didn’t do much for me.

While the Doctor’s guitar playing and disco references are getting a bit on my nerves by now, I keep liking Clara better each episode. I thought she was brilliant and her Zygon version was really awesome too. You just knew that something had to be up with her, that she wouldn’t just leave a child screaming behind with some strange people. But for some reason I didn’t think she was a Zygon until we saw the pods. Also, I get more and more curious as to how she’ll be leaving the show.

All in all, I am excited about next week! What did you think? Like or loathe or no opinion at all?

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13 thoughts on “Doctor Who: The Zygon Invasion”

We’re agreeing a third time. The Apocalypse is nigh.
I really liked this episode. It felt like someone mixed a high-stakes thriller with Doctor Who, and recalled some of the earlier episodes of DW, when things were so fresh and they didn’t need to rely on gimmicks. And I like how they kind of connect it with today’s modern problems, which is kind of part of science fiction in a sense.
I also enjoyed Osgood’s evolution as a character (according to the cast and crew of the show, she’s supposed to be like a reflection of DW fans and cosplayers, which I think is pretty cool), but I also wondered about Kate Stewart. Seriously, if you’re the head of UNIT in the UK, why would you go to America unaccompanied? And for some reason I also didn’t connect Clara with the Zygons until near the end, but it makes sense when you think about it. The clues were there, we just didn’t pick up on them.
All in all, I liked this episode very much and I hope they can keep it up with the next episode. Depending on how they explain the Doctor and Osgood surviving the plane crash, we’ll know (and he just embraces that President of the World thing when it matters, doesn’t he?).
By the way, something I noticed about this week’s episode: in the beginning with the Osgoods, there was an article behind one of them that said something like “White House Appoints Alien Ambassador”. In the Sarah Jane Adventures, it’s mentioned that a character who left after the first season to live in America was working with the White House on aliens. I wonder if that was a nod to that and maybe a hint of things to come…?

You living in the same time zone as me for a while must have synced our brains somehow hahaha.
It felt like a thriller mixed with Who to me as well. I really enjoyed that a lot more than I thought.
Osgood is great! I like her a lot, but since she is such a super fan, I don’t want her as a constant companion. Does that make sense? She’s been in the talks to replace Clara, but I hope they’ll go with someone new.
Right!? It makes no sense that Kate would just off and go all by herself.
I hope they have a good explanation for how they’ll survive. I don’t like dodgy stuff. And no, I didn’t notice the article, but then again, I am not that familiar with the Sarah Jane Adventures. It would be a nice reference though 🙂

Something we both noticed though was the constant references to Clara’s “death”. I think that’s the “Bad Wolf” this season, that thing they keep repeating because it all adds up in the finale. But is Clara really going to die? Maybe she’ll forget about the Doctor like Donna, or she’ll just leave for a new life. Who knows?

They really do reference it a lot, like they did with Amy as well. But then Amy didn’t really die, she just got stuck (and we all know he could have found a way to get her back …). What I was trying to say is that a lot points to her dying, but maybe it won’t be in a way we expect. Somehow I just can’t picture her moving on to another life. Space/time travel has become a part of herself and I don’t think that anything could persuade her to leave the Doctor. And I also can’t picture her having a similar fate like Donna, that’d be boring.

Steven Moffat did say for the second-to-last episode of this series he wrote himself and the Doctor into such a corner he wasn’t sure how either would get out. He also said the episode is going to be cliffhanger that no one will see coming. Maybe he meant Clara’s death with those hints.

I really liked this episode. Much more fleshed out and engaging than other recent episodes. I really loved how the villains purpose was actually genuine as well- no random ‘my home plant was destroyed I want to kill people’ nonsense. I really did see the Clara twist coming but I really liked it- Jenna Coleman’s acting was brill! I can’t wait for the next part.